Principium Finis
by Umbradominus19
Summary: (Original Persona Story) "Death is an interesting card. It means the end of one thing, yet at the same time the beginning of another." Those words ring through Wesley's head as clear as a bell. Having moved to Seattle, he is soon thrust into a world of mercenaries, conspiracies and a power known as 'Persona'. In a world such as this, just what will he gain... and what will he lose?
1. Welcome

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking..."

 _Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

"We'd like to apologize for the delay, but in about five minutes we shall be clear for takeoff."

 _Tick. Tick…_

The passengers of the plane took a collective sigh of relief. They had waiting for several hours for the flight to start, and it seems as if their wish was finally granted.

The plane was sparsely filled with your usual passengers on a mode of transportation such as this: Businessmen and women, families on vacation and people visiting relatives. There didn't seem to be many a person on the plane who could be considered 'out of the ordinary' just from a quick glance. That is, of course, excluding one young man sitting by a window near the middle of the isle.

Though to be fair, it wasn't his appearance that would seem strange. On the contrary, he looked rather ordinary. He had short brown hair, a plain face and an average build, albeit slightly spindly. The most interesting thing about the young man's looks was that both of his irises had a discoloration, so there were small splashes of grey in his mostly hazel eyes.

No, what most people would consider strange was how the young man was seated and what he was doing.

Granted, the first piece wasn't necessarily 'strange', maybe lucky more so than anything. While many people were forced to sit near strangers on the plane, the young man had nobody sitting near him. He had a row of three seats all to himself.

That alone would catch most people on a plane off guard, but what the young man was doing would do that even more.

What he was doing was staring at a pocket watch. Now, normally, a person wouldn't bat an eyelash at this. To be fair, pocket watches were rather obsolete in today's age of technology, but most people would just brush off somebody owning one with 'to each their own'. However, it wasn't the ownership of such an item that made people somewhat questioning of the young man, but rather the intensity he was looking at the object.

No matter what person passed by or what noises the other passengers made, his gaze could not be drawn away from the pocket watch. It was as if some form of ethereal or supernatural force had gotten a hold of the young man and was forcing him to look towards the time-piece. He seemed to be saying something as well while looking at it, though nobody in his immediate area could hear what it was he was saying.

He wasn't so much saying anything, however, as he was just following the clock: keeping time as it were. Whenever the watch moved a second, he counted along. Some of you may wonder why somebody would do such a monotonous task, but the reality was the young man didn't have much else to do.

That is until now.

With the announcement from the pilot, the young man finally closed his pocket watch and thought:

' _Finally. Now I don't have to sit here and count my brain-cells as the die one-by-one.'_

Putting his pocket watch into its namesake, he reached over to his carry-on he was keeping in the seat next to his and rummaged around until he found a pair of headphones and an MP3 player. Before he started to listen to it, though, the young man stopped for several reasons: One, because he knew that if he turned on his player now, he knew that he was just going to be asked to turn it off a few minutes later. Secondly, he wanted to take some time to think about just where he was heading.

When the young man thought of the destination he was about to arrive in, images of the Space Needle and Puget Sound filled his brain.

' _Seattle. I haven't been there in so long, and even then it was just to visit sis. I hope it's a decent place to live.'_

Thinking of the times he, his father and brother made the yearly visits to his sister in the Emerald City, the young man smiled. He loved the city and what it offered. It certainly was more interesting than Butte.

' _Eh, you shouldn't be so hard on Butte. It's been your home for the past, what, ten years? Its treated you well in that time, hasn't it?'_

The young man had to agree it did. While it was true that Butte didn't have too much to do (At least things to do that the young man found interesting), the food was good, the people were nice, and the views were absolutely gorgeous. Excluding his father, those views were probably what he was going to miss most. The young man would've added his brother to the list of the things he was going to miss, but…

The young man cringed mentally. It had three years and he still hadn't gotten over his brother's death. That may seem like a short amount of time in reference to an event that monumental, but the young man was a rather prideful individual. You could say that he thought he was better than this, letting this get him down. He reassured himself, however:

' _Stop it. You know that brooding over this isn't going to change anything. What's done is done, you should just learn to move on from it.'_

As the young man was recuperating from his rumination, he felt the plane start to move. The young man smiled and thought:

' _Good. Now we're getting somewhere.'_

A few minutes later when the plane was finally in the air, something hit the young man like a ton of bricks: Drowsiness.

' _Damnit, I already took a nap before I got to the airport. Well, I suppose another couldn't hurt. It'll pass the time."_ The young man thought with a yawn.

With that, he leaned back in his seat and looked out the window, taking a last look at the mountains he grew up with.

' _See you, Montana.'_

And so, the young man closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.

* * *

When the young man opened his eyes, he was in a place he least expected to be. Granted, anywhere besides the plane would be a place he wasn't expecting, but that's beside the point.

He appeared to be in a… church? He wanted to say it was a church due to the stained glass in front of him. It was blue with hints of yellow, making light from outside shine in with a haunting azure glow.

The young man came to the conclusion that he wasn't in a church, however. For you see, the young man was in what appeared to be a mausoleum. He could gather this due to the fact that directly in front of him, stood a coffin. However, that wasn't the most intriguing thing about the place that his was in.

That title went to the man in front of him.

He appeared to be short in stature (though the young man couldn't tell for sure since he was seated), his hunched back giving an impression of leaning forward most of the time. He actually was doing just that, his form leaning forward with his head resting on his hands.

His face, though, contained the strangest of features in the room.

His eyes were large. Extremely large. So large in fact that the young man was afraid that they were going to jump out of their sockets. They were slightly bloodshot as well, giving off signs of not blinking much.

Nothing could hold a candle, though, to the spectacle that was the man's nose.

In combination with his eyes, his nose made it look like he was wearing a mask. A very comical one at that. At the same time, however, the man seemed to carry himself with a sense of eloquence and importance that you couldn't ignore. His smile, thought slightly off-putting, accentuated this.

After several moments in silence, the odd man spoke.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor."

The young man was about to ask what this place was and how he got there, but was beaten to the punch this Igor person.

"Do not alarmed: You are fast asleep in the real world." Gesturing with his hands, Igor continued with "This is a realm that exists between dream and reality. Mind and Matter." Looking the young man straight in the eyes, he asked:

"Tell me: What is your name?"

The young man was hesitant. He wasn't sure whether this was real or not, but for some reason Igor put him at ease. Maybe it was the sincere tone of his voice or his kind smile that put him off guard. Whatever it was, the young man decided to tell Igor his name.

"Wesley. My name is Wesley Holton."

"I see." Igor replied.

After saying such, with a flick of his hands he drew forth a deck of cards.

"Tell me, do you believe in fortune telling?"

Wesley was slightly taken aback by this question, but responded with:

"I've always been slightly skeptical about it, but it does seem like an interesting process."

"I personally find it fascinating. You can achieve so many different outcomes, yet the cards always remain the same."

"I have to admit, that is an interesting way of looking at it."

Igor laid out four cards, using the coffin in between him and Wesley as a makeshift table. Three of them were in a row and one was placed above said row.

"Now, why don't we see what fate has to offer you?" Igor asked rhetorically.

Flipping up the first card in the row, Igor revealed what appeared to Wesley an arrow with two people kneeling beside it, and in each of the top corners of the card there lay a key.

"This card represents the Hierophant. It is a symbol of knowledge and wisdom." Said Igor.

Wesley nodded along. He didn't understand why he was being so accepting of all this strangeness, but he supposed that was a question for another time.

Igor turned over the card next to the Hierophant. This next card depicted what seemed it be a man of royalty, a scepter and an orb of some sort by its sides.

"This card is the Emperor. This symbolizes power, or the want to control one's surroundings."

"I see." Replied Wesley.

Taking the last card in the row, Igor flipped it over to reveal what looked like the skull of a goat with two people chained to it. A major difference that this card showed was that it was upside down in relation to the Emperor and Hierophant.

"This card is the Reverse Devil. This most of the time represents greed and want to use one's abilities for selfish purposes."

"That sounds… ominous." Wesley said.

Igor flipped over the last card, the one above the row of others. After viewing the card in his hand for several moments, he said with the same smile he had been wearing all throughout his and Wesley's time together:

"Not as ominous as this, I would imagine."

After Igor laid the final card on the table, Wesley would've had to agree with him. The last card depicted a staircase leading to a door. On that door, there lay a large skull.

"W-what card does that mean?" Wesley asked nervously.

"This card represents Death." Igor said.

Wesley's nervousness must have been rather apparent to Igor, because soon after he said:

"Fret not, my new friend. This card doesn't necessarily mean the literal death of someone. In traditional tarot readings such as this, Death is an interesting card. It means the end of one thing, yet at the same time the beginning of another."

"I… observe." Said Wesley, still not thoroughly convinced. "What exactly does this all mean for me, though?"

"What it means," Igor started, his hand over the Hierophant. "Is that soon you will come to learn something of great importance." After saying this, Igor moved his hand to the Emperor. "With this knowledge, you will gain power, and with it will try to control your environment." With his hand over the Devil, Igor continued. "But be warned: This power can easily taint the mind and corrupt the soul. Be cautious when you achieve it, for the Devil can easily lead the lesser minded astray."

Finally, placing his hand over Death, Igor said:

"Keep this in mind above all else: You are going to lose something dear to you. However, you will also gain something. Possibly something than can unlock your destiny."

"Unlock my destiny? What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that it is my job to help guests of this room, such as yourself, to unlock their potential. This potential for you is a power known as 'Persona'."

"Persona? I don't understand."

Igor chuckled. "In due time you will. I would love to tell you more, but you are about to wake up."

Igor was right. Wesley could feel his consciousness (could you call it consciousness if you were dreaming?) slipping.

"Wait! I have so many questions!" Wesley shouted.

"Which will be answered in due time." Igor waved his hand in goodbye.

"Until we meet again… farewell."

* * *

 **Good Morrow, People of Fanfiction! I take it was pretty obvious to tell, but this is my first Persona story. With that being said, any and all criticism is welcome. Nothing much else to say except leave your reviews and tell me what you think!**


	2. The Emerald City

"Excuse me, sir… sir?"

Wesley was roused awake by a hand shaking him by his shoulder. Opening his eyes to see who had disturbed him from his slumber, he looked to see it was a stewardess who was doing the deed.

"Hm?" Wesley grunted whilst opening his eyes. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you from your sleep, but the plane landed about ten minutes ago."

Peering to the seats behind him and in front of him, Wesley could see the stewardess wasn't lying: they were mostly vacated, save for a few stragglers either talking on the phone or making sure their luggage was in check.

"Oh!" Wesley began to stand while preparing his carry-on. "I see. Thank you for waking me up."

"Of course. I hope you had a pleasant flight."

"I did, thank you." Wesley said with sincerity. He hadn't been able to sleep that well in a very long time. Granted, his dreams weren't usually filled with large-nosed men with tarot cards telling prophetic fortunes, but that's beside the point.

… Or was it?

As Wesley began to walk out of the plane and into the airport, he couldn't help but let his mind focus on what exactly that Igor fellow had said.

' _Persona… I wonder what that could mean.'_

Granted, Wesley did know the definition of the word persona: An aspect of somebody's personality perceived by others. Wesley had to wonder: If the word's definition had anything to do with this so-called 'power', what would that entail? Could it be an ability manifested by some deep part of his psyche? Or would it be his personality made physical?

Regardless, Wesley had to wonder why he was even paying so much mind to this dream… if it was a dream. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but Wesley felt that his time with Igor felt too… well, he didn't want to say real, as in reality what he experienced was very strange. Maybe planned was the right word. For one, Wesley couldn't recall many times where he had dreamed so vividly, so that was one give away to the possible event.

Secondly, Wesley hadn't met (or even imagined, as far as he was concerned) somebody who even came close to Igor's physical build or verbal mannerisms. They were far too pronounced, Wesley felt, to be that he just dreamed them up on the spot.

Finally, and this was what really put Wesley off guard: What Igor said held far too much meaning. That tarot reading Igor had given was indeed somewhat cryptic, but at the same time Wesley couldn't shake the feeling that it did indeed mean something. That and Wesley didn't know the first thing about fortune telling, so how could he have known the meanings to the cards presented if it was indeed a dream?

On the subject of the cards, Wesley felt a small chill going down his spine when he recalled the final card Igor had presented to him and its meaning: Death.

' _The end of one thing, yet the beginning of another… How does that relate to me, I wonder?'_

Sadly, Wesley could think of many instances where he lost something: his mother, his brother… his innocence when he took a stroll down the wrong side of the internet.

"Snrk."

Wesley couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke.

Shaking off his moment of immaturity, he again focused back onto what correlation The Death could have with his future.

' _That is what Igor said about my fortune, right? In the near future? So what exactly is going to end for me…?'_

Wesley's train of thought derailed when he realized how long he had been standing still for. Relinquishing his pocket watch from the confines of its namesake, he looked to see exactly just what time it was.

' _7:44. I've been keeping Katherine waiting for fourteen minutes.'_

Snapping his attention away from his pocket watch, Wesley set off in a mild sprint to search for his sister.

It took him approximately seven more minutes to do so, but after said allotted time he found her sitting on a bench near the front doors.

"Hey, Katherine!" Wesley called out.

Turing her head at the sound of her name being proclaimed, Katherine caught Wesley in her sights. Upon doing so, she stood up whilst smiling and ran over to her brother.

"Wesley!" She exclaimed while wrapping her younger brother in a hug. "It's so good to see you again!"

"You too." Wesley said, just as happy as his sister. "Hopefully I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Oh no, not at all. I just feel sorry that you got hit with a three hour delay."

"Don't remind me." Wesley said with annoyance.

"Hehe, well it's all over now, isn't it? C'mon, let's head back to my place." Katherine said with a wave of her arm.

Following her sister outside, he noticed how much she hadn't changed physically. She hadn't grown or shrunk from her average height, her brown hair was in the same short cut like always, and even her fashion sense hadn't change at all from what Wesley could tell: She was wearing a simple sun dress to compliment the late summer whether with slip-on shoes. Wesley didn't really mind this, however: He could use some consistency during the time he would be living with his sister.

After getting in Katherine's car and sitting in silence for several minutes, Wesley thought he'd open the door to conversation with the line:

"Well, this place certainly seems a lot livelier than Butte."

Katherine chuckled at her brother's statement. "You don't know the half of it. I'm not sure just how much you're going to experience it considering how introverted I know you are, but there's quite a bit to do around the area. I'm sure you'll find something that interests you in due time."

"I hope you're right. More than anything, I think I just need to occupy myself… lord knows I need something to keep me happy."

Katherine pulled into an apartment complex's parking lot and put a sympathetic hand on her brother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry you've been going through so much. I know after the incident you must be feeling pretty down on yourself, but trust me when I say: You're going to get better." Katherine smiled at Wesley. "I'll make sure of that."

Wesley cringed slightly when Katherine had mentioned the incident. It may have been several months since it happened, but it ran through his head clear as day. Visions of being on top of a building, looking to the people below like ants. Regardless of the bad memories, he smiled appreciatively at Katherine, grateful for her support.

"Thanks, sis." He said simply.

"Don't mention it." Katherine said back. "Now, I take it after all that waiting, you must be hungry. How would you feel about some take-out?"

"I'd implore you to make the call." Wesley said happily, grateful for the offer of food.

"Great. I left my phone in my apartment though, so I hope you don't mind waiting for a bit longer."

"Katherine, if I can kill time on a plane by literally counting the seconds my pocket watch, I can wait another measly couple of minutes for some food."

"If you say so."

With that both siblings got out of the car and started to walk towards the apartment complex.

"You know, since you brought it up, I still can't believe you have that thing." Katherine said.

"What, you mean my pocket watch."

"Bingo."

"Hey," Wesley started while bringing out his pocket watch and pointing at it. "Jay gave this to me. What do you expect me to do, just throw out something my brother gave me?"

"Well no, but you have to realize that those things are pretty obsolete in terms of today's technology."

"I know, I know, but it has a lot of sentimental value for me. And you know how hard it is for me to get attached to things."

"I guess you have a point." Katherine conceded.

"Plus," Wesley said while tossing up the pocket watch a few times. "It makes me look refined when I use it." He said whilst rolling the r of 'refined'.

"It also makes you look like a hipster." Katherine said bluntly.

"That is also sadly the case." Wesley said with mock-disdain.

Both Wesley and Katherine had a good laugh at that statement.

Several minutes later, the siblings finally made it to Katherine's apartment. Upon his sister turning the key to her door and opening it, Wesley realized something:

He had quite a few more belongings than he remembered.

Wesley came to this conclusion from the large number of boxes piled high on the dining room table. Be it clothes, books, movies, etcetera, there were quite a few more things than Wesley remembered owning.

"Woah, that's a lot of stuff. How long have you had that here?" Wesley inquired his sister.

"Eh, about a week or so. Don't get stressed out about it, though, just make sure you get them unpacked halfway soon."

"I will. Sorry about all this clutter, I know how you like to keep things organized."

"As I said, it's fine." Katherine said reassuringly while picking up her phone. "So, why don't we get us some food?"

"I couldn't agree with you more."

The proceeding hours of the night were filled with Chinese food and sitcom reruns, with Wesley and Katherine reciting all the lines they could remember in unison with the actors. Many laughs were had.

When his pocket watch struck 10:00, Wesley declared that he should be going to bed for his upcoming first day at his new school tomorrow. Opening the door to his bedroom for the time being, the thing that took up most of his attention was the view. It was a near perfect picture of the Seattle skyline, with the Space Needle plainly visible within it.

' _Man, I wonder how much this place costs with views like this?'_

Kicking off his shoes and settling into his sleep attire (sweatpants and a plain T-shirt), Wesley took one last look around his room before he head off to slumber. It was quite spacious for a guest room. He would have to think of a way to get all of his belongings in comfortably. Wesley laid back his head onto his pillow.

' _So, this is going to be my room for the next while, huh? …I can definitely live with this.'_

* * *

"Okay, so if I'm here, and his room is in this complex, that would mean… wait, which complex am I next to again?"

Wesley had been mumbling to himself for several minutes whilst looking at a map in front of the school he would be starting to attend today. He had been trying to look for the location of a certain Mr. Veline who was to be his homeroom teacher for the year. The only issue with this plan was the map was rather cryptic with how it presented itself. I didn't give a list of room numbers, rather it gave each building (There were three of them) a list of the topics it taught. As a result, it made for a rather confusing article to read.

Wesley was going to continue mulling over where his exact location was relative to his desired destination, but was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder and feminine voice saying:

"Excuse me?"

Wesley turned around to view who was addressing him.

She was rather pretty, Wesley wasn't going to lie.

The girl (though, to be fair, she looked more like a grown woman than a girl) was about an inch or so taller than Wesley, which he found impressive because he himself was rather tall. Her hair was so dark it almost looked blue to Wesley. Fitting, because her eyes were very much the same color of azure. It must have been a favorite color of hers, as the blouse she was wearing was a deep navy as well, with a pair of black skinny jeans to compliment. Lastly, her half-smiling face donned a look of simultaneous nostalgia and sympathy. What for Wesley was about to find out.

"Exactly how long have you been looking at that map?" She asked.

"Um, let's see…" Wesley said whilst pulling out his pocket watch. He became slightly bashful once he realized how long he had been staring at the map.

"About ten minutes?" Wesley said with a nervous chuckle.

"Don't feel bad." The girl said, gesturing to the map. "This thing is ancient, they haven't updated it in years from what I've heard. So, I take it you're new here?"

"Yeah, actually, I just moved in last night. How did you guess?" Wesley said, surprised at the girl's right answer.

"Only Freshmen and new people ever look at that map." She said with a small laugh. "So, where are you heading? I can lead you there."

"Do you happen to know where Mr. Veline's room is? He's my homeroom."

"Oh, how convenient, he's mine too!"

"Is that so?"

"Indeed it is. C'mon, let's go together."

"Sounds good." Wesley said, happy to finally get some direction.

Avery several moments of walking, the girl broke their silence by holding out her hand and saying:

"I'm Morgan, by the way."

Wesley took Morgan's hand in his. "Wesley. Pleasure to meet you."

"You as well. So," Morgan started as they began to walk again. "I'm surprised."

"Surprised with what?" Wesley inquired his acquaintance.

"Veline's class is only opened to seniors. Not to sound offensive, but you don't seem like a senior."

"Oh. Well, you see, I'm somewhat diagnosed with being smart. Back in my old high school I was in this fast-track program and I was essentially able to skip ahead a year."

"Ah, that would explain it." Morgan said, comprehension dawning on her face. "So, where exactly was your old high-school?"

"Butte, Montana." Wesley said plainly

"Oh, Montana, huh? So we've got a country boy in our midst, eh?" Morgan said jokingly.

In response, Wesley gave a half laugh and said:

"You wish. The closest thing you could consider 'country' about me is the brief second whenever a country song comes on the radio. I say brief second because that's all it takes for me to change the station in disgust."

Morgan laughed at this declaration. "Not the biggest fan of your hometown, huh?"

"On the contrary, I really like it. However I'm definitely not what you would call 'country'."

"If you say so."

Upon Morgan saying this, she and Wesley had reached the main doors to the school and proceeded to open them.

The commons were rather colorful, to say the least. All around there were murals depicting various scenes of Seattle life. Be it a silhouette of the skyline, a quiet day in the park or the bustling nightlife, there was a depiction of practically everything you could do in the Emerald City.

"Wow." Wesley was taken aback

"Pretty impressive, right? Hopefully this is a good enough introduction to Puget High."

"Oh, it's more than 'good enough'" Wesley reassured.

"Good to know." Morgan looked satisfied. "Most students here are pretty proud be a part of the school, so we try to show off any way we can. These murals are an example." She said with pride

"The students made these?" Wesley questioned.

"Just so. Actually, you see that one?" Morgan pointed to the mural depicting an autumn day in the park. Several leaves were blowing in the wind, falling at different angles. A gorgeous orange sunset was also simmering upon a pool of water, with the silhouette of a boat in the distance seemingly moving along and leaving ripples within the water. Illuminated lamp posts also lined a cobblestone walkaway next the vibrant yellow-orange trees. It all came together quite beautifully.

"Yeah." Wesley said, awed at the gorgeous painting.

"I actually was the main painter for that."

"Are you serious?"

"Indeed I am." Morgan said, grinning wide.

"Wow. You're really talented. That one's actually my favorite." Wesley said sincerely.

"Oh, you're just saying that." Said Morgan with wave of her hand, as if brushing off Wesley's previous statement.

"No, I'm actually quite serious. I mean, the subtle colors of the water and the cobblestone clashing with the vibrant nature of the trees and sunset gives off an amazing feeling of impressionism. That was your aim, right?"

"It… was, actually." Morgan looked impressed. "… Thank you." She continued with resolve.

"Aw, I was just saying what was true." Wesley said, continuing with his sincerity.

"No, I'm serious. Do you know how many guys there are that don't give a damn about things like this?"

"I would imagine there are quite a few."

"Exactly. So it's really refreshing when somebody like you comes along and knows what their talking about and show real appreciation for art. It fills me with legitimate pride about my work instead of just brushing off some half-assed compliment from a guy that only said it so they could try to get me to go on a 'date' with them."

"I see. Wait, what was with the quotation marks around 'date'?"

Morgan gave a small, sarcastic chuckle.

"When I say they want to 'date' me, replace that word 'get inside my pants'."

"Aha." Wesley sighed deeply. "My apologies on behalf of my gender, we're kinda the worst at times."

Morgan gave a hearty laugh at Wesley's comment.

"Oh, don't worry about it. You guys aren't all bad. There's always an exception to every rule."

"That is very true."

Wesley, realizing how distracted he was by the pleasant conversation he was having with his new acquaintance, took out his pocket watch to see how long he and Morgan had been talking.

"Tch, that bored with me are you?" Morgan said jokingly, noticing Wesley's pocket watch.

His eyes widening at how rude it was to bring out his watch, Wesley shook his hands in front of him and said:

"No, no, no, no, of course not!"

Morgan giggled at this display. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. We've been talking for a while and we're on a bit of a schedule, it's only natural to want to know what time it is."

Wesley breathed out a sigh of relief, glad he hadn't offended Morgan.

"Well," Wesley started. "That isn't the only reason why I checked the time."

"Oh? Then what might be the other reason?"

"I don't know why, but for some reason I've always been… time conscience."

"Time conscience? What do you mean?"

"You know, I'm always counting down the seconds to something or wondering how long I've been doing something. It's a strange tick of mine."

Morgan gave a very unladylike snort of laughter when Avery finished his statement.

"What's funny?" Wesley questioned.

"Tick." Morgan said whilst smiling at Wesley. "Time pun."

"Oh. Hahaha!" Wesley laughed genuinely.

"Wow. Somebody actually laughed at one of my puns." Morgan said with mock-fascination. She then said in a sincere tone in conjunction with pointing an index finger at Wesley:

"I'm starting to like you."

"Oh. Well, uh… same here." Wesley said nervously. He wasn't used to being complimented by somebody he met this soon.

Before either of the two acquaintances could say anything more, the bell rang, sending all of the students in the halls in a hurry.

"Ah crap, we're going to be late." Morgan said. "C'mon, follow me." She called after Wesley.

After speeding through the halls, Wesley and Morgan made it just in time to their homeroom. After wasting some more time with conversation, the acquaintances (as well as the rest of the class) became silent after a man walked into the room.

He appeared to be middle aged, around early to mid-forties. His golden beard and small bald-spot gave this away rather quickly. Despite this, he seemed to be rather well-kept. He wore an orange checkered shirt with brown slacks, a red tie standing out amongst his simple wardrobe. The most notable quirk about his appearance was behind his circular frame glassed were two different colored eyes. One was a deep green, the other a striking yellow. Even though his multi-colored irises were somewhat jarring, his eyes (and this applied to the rest of his face as well) carried a form of quiet dignity and kindness that you couldn't ignore.

"Good morrow, my children." He said with a small bow. Most of the class gave a small chuckle at this introduction.

"My name, if you couldn't already surmise it, is Mr. Veline." Then, turning his body slightly, he said with his hand slightly covering his mouth in a whispered tone: "You can also call me Dr. Veline if you want to be a kiss-ass."

The classroom howled with laughter at that remark.

"Anyways," Mr. Veline recomposed himself. "Welcome to Advanced Psychology. Now, I take it most of you are here because you're wanting the college credits. That's more than fine, wanting to get a head start on your college life is indeed an admirable goal. However, and I hope this isn't too much for me to ask: but I sincerely hope that at least one of you gets intrigued enough by our study of the human mind to want to pursue this as a career option. Like I said, that may be wishful thinking on my part, but do try to at least put forth some interest in the work you will be studying. It'll make both your and my job a hell of a lot easier."

After saying his piece, Mr. Veline then proceeded to explain the coursework the class would be tackling over the year. Wesley couldn't quite put his finger on why, but he was already starting to like this man. Maybe it was the way he talked to you like an equal, not a subordinate. Or possibly his intellectual but easy to understand way of presenting the work. Regardless, he was indeed having a positive effect on Wesley.

Following his presentation, Mr. Veline let the classroom off easy since it was the first day. No homework and the last twenty minutes of class time free. Wesley was wanting to continue to talk with Morgan (who was currently sitting in front of him), but before he could do so the class was interrupted by a knock at the door. Mr. Veline walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a student about Morgan's age.

Much like Mr. Veline, the boy also wore glasses. Unlike Wesley's teacher, however, the boy's glasses were in a rectangular frame. Coupled with his slate grey eyes, he gave off an air of intelligence and professionalism. His clothing also very blatantly said this, as he was wearing a plain white button-up shirt with short sleeves, black slacks and dress shoes. To finish the business man-like picture, he had short brown hair and carried with him a briefcase.

' _Okay, either that guy is some form of honor student or he's a junior member of the faculty.'_ Wesley thought.

"Ah, Ty. Is there anything I can help you with?"

The boy, supposedly named Ty, handed Mr. Veline a slip of paper while saying:

"I'm needing to see Morgan for a moment. I hope that won't be an inconvenience."

Looking over the slip of paper for a few moments, Mr. Veline finally responded with:

"Not at all." Looking into the classroom, he called out:

"Morgan."

She, however, had already began walking towards the door. Before she left, Morgan looked towards Wesley and said:

"Let's talk again soon."

"Looking forward to it." Wesley answered.

With that, Morgan headed out the door and started to walk down the hall.

The boy named Ty was about to do the same, but Wesley saw him stop in his tracks and look back towards the doorway. He was… looking at Wesley. In an appraising manner in fact. Wesley began to look back towards the young man, somehow drawn towards him. Along with the appraisal in his gaze, Wesley couldn't help but notice the utter intensity in the way Ty was looking at him.

' _Why exactly is he looking at me like that?'_ Wesley thought, more than slightly intimidated.

"Is something up, Ty?" Morgan called from down the hall.

"… No. It's nothing." Ty said bluntly. With that, he looked away from Wesley and headed down the hall.

' _What was that about? Strange…'_

Snapping back to reality, Wesley realized that his plan for passing the time until the next period (talking with Morgan) had been put to a halt. Luckily, he had a backup plan to pass the time, thankfully not involving counting the seconds on his pocket watch.

Reaching into his backpack, Wesley pulled out a large paperback novel. The front cover was all yellow, save for one small oval of black and a streak of red.

' _Ah, good old Watchmen. You will never cease to entertain me.'_ Wesley thought with a smile. Before he could open the book and begin reading, thought, he was interrupted by a voice saying:

"Aw, sick! You're reading Watchmen?"

Wesley turned to wear the voice was emanating (which was to his left) and saw one of his classmates smiling back at him. He had sea green eyes, pale skin, messy ebon hair, and a lanky build.

Wesley gave a half smile back to this mystery fellow and said:

"More like re-reading it for the fourth time."

"Nice! Which part are you on?" The young man asked with genuine interest.

"I'm almost to the part where Rorschach gets caught by the police."

"Ah man, that's such a great part! Frickin' Ozymandias, framing Rorschach like that."

Wesley's half smile turned into a full one. Whoever he was talking too, his enthusiasm was quite infectious.

"I know, right? Granted, Ozymandias is still an amazing character."

"Oh, no arguments here, man. His actions really make you wonder: is he really a villain?"

"Exactly! Wouldn't you agree that when a book poses thought provoking questions like that, you have a keeper on your hands?"

"Oh, totally man." Sticking out his hand, the young man finally introduced himself:

"I'm Milo."

"Nice to meet you, Milo." Wesley said while taking Milo's hand in his. "I'm Wesley."

"So, weird question to ask somebody you just met, I realize," Milo started. "But I gotta ask you something related to movies."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Wesley inquired, his interest piqued.

"What do you think is the greatest ending shot in a film?"

Wesley was slightly taken off guard by this question, both by its difficulty and its admitted strangeness.

"That is an odd question, but a fair one." Wesley admitted.

"I'm sorry to spring it on you out of nowhere, but friend of mine and I have been arguing about this for a couple days now and I need another person's opinion."

"Hmmm…" Wesley thought for a few moments until he found his answer.

"I have two answers for you. In my personal opinion, I think 'Don't ask about my business, Kay' from The Godfather is the best ending shot. However, my personal favorite closing shot to a movie is 'Will on the Highway' from Good Will Hunting."

Upon ending his statement, Milo began to smile again.

"Oh my god. I've found one of my kind."

"What do you mean?" Wesley asked.

"You separate your favorite from the best." Milo explained.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I do that all the time. Don't you find it strange how other people don't do that?"

"You have no idea, man. I tell my friends all the time: There's a difference between the objective best and your subjective favorite."

"I agree completely."

"I mean, for example: My favorite movie is Starship Troopers."

"Starship Troopers? Never heard of it." Wesley admitted.

"That's because it's a pretty obscure movie. Now, while it is my favorite movie, I know it's actually pretty frickin' terrible in an objective sense. That's why I don't say it's one of the best movies ever."

"I can absolutely see where you're coming from." Wesley said honestly.

Before the two young men could continue conversing, however, the bell signaling the end of the period cut them short.

"Aw man. I was enjoying our talk." Milo said disappointedly. "Say, what's your next class?" he asked Wesley.

"Um, I believe its Chemistry."

"Oh, sweet, same here. C'mon, we can keep talking on our way."

* * *

And keep talking they did.

As they were conversing, Wesley learned Milo was quite fascinated with anything entertainment based. Be it Movies, Music, Video Games or what have you, Milo held them on the highest pedestal. Wesley also came to realize that Milo had worked on several independent films around town and wanted to become a practical effects artist when he graduated. To quote directly from Milo:

"Everything now a days is computer generated, you know? I want to see a resurgence of actual hard work and effort put into effects."

"That is indeed an admirable thing to strive for." Wesley agreed.

"Thanks for understanding, man." Milo said with an appreciative smile. "Now, how about we get some grub?" He continued whilst gesturing toward the nearby cafeteria.

"I second that notion."

Before the two acquaintances could walk in, however, they were interrupted by a voice saying:

"Jesus, Milo, you'll talk the ears off of anybody who gives you the chance, won't you?"

Wesley and Milo turned to see Morgan half smiling back at the two.

"Hey, cut me some slack! I just saw him reading Watchmen and one thing lead to another." Milo said.

"You know I'm just kidding, right?"

"Maybe so, but the fact still remains."

"Eh, if you say so." Morgan looked to Wesley. "Sorry about ditching you first period, I just had some extracurricular things to take care of."

"No need to apologize." Wesley said. "So, would you care to join us for lunch?"

"I'd be happy to."

As the three waiting in line to get what they were planning on eating, a question popped into Wesley's head regarding what he and Milo had been talking about earlier.

"Say, Morgan, I have a question for you."

"Shoot." She said whilst turning to Wesley.

"What do you plan on doing when you graduate? With your skills, I'm guessing you could become a great artist."

Morgan gave a small chuckle in response to Avery's compliment. "Thank you for that, but I'm actually planning on going to business school."

"Really?"

"Yep. I'm following in my Mom's footsteps. She was a pretty prominent business woman, from what I've heard from my dad."

"From what I've heard?" Wesley inquired.

"My mother passed away when I was pretty young, so I've only got some old diplomas of and my father's words to go by." Morgan said plainly.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." Wesley said sympathetically.

"Hey, it's fine, there's no reason for you to get upset." Morgan tried to brush off.

"If you say so…"

"But hey, enough about me," Morgan started. "What do you want to do when you graduate?"

"I'm wanting to be a psychologist, actually."

"Man, Veline has that much of an effect on you already, huh?" Milo asked.

"Well, to be fair, I have taken somewhat of a shine to our homeroom instructor, but that isn't the reason why I want to get in psychology. For one, my father is a therapist, so I've grown to look up to people working in that field from an early age. Secondly, I've just always found the human mind fascinating. It's so strange yet so wonderful with all its different idiosyncrasies and functions. Then again, that's just from my perspective."

After Wesley's monologue, he, Morgan and Milo retrieved their food and proceeded to sit at one of the many tables in the cafeteria. They continued their discussion about what they were to do when they graduated and well as talked about more light subject matter (favorite movies and books, things to do around town, etc.). When the bell rang, signifying that lunch was over, the three acquaintances parted ways.

* * *

The rest of Wesley's school day was rather uneventful. He was introduced to a few more teachers, got to know the layout of the school a bit more, and had small passing conversations with a few different students (Mainly about him being new in town).

When the day was finally done, Wesley once again looked to his pocket watch.

' _Hm. I've got quite a bit of time to kill before Katherine wants me home…'_

Wesley looked towards the main doors.

' _Might as well pay homage to a pastime of mine.'_ He thought with a small grin.

That pastime, for those of you wondering, was holding open the door for other students. Since back a home he always had to wait several minutes for a ride from his father, Wesley always felt he should spend his time doing something nice for the other students. Even though he was to be walking home now that he was living with Katherine, Wesley still felt he might as well hold open the door.

Several minutes passed with Wesley holding the door open, getting a passing 'thank you' from students here and there. Nothing of much note happened until a familiar face came out of the doors.

"Thank you." The young man Wesley recognized as Ty said.

"Don't mention it." Wesley said.

Ty appeared as though he was about to continue walking, but after a few steps he slowed down and turned towards Wesley.

"I take it you noticed me looking at you during Veline's first period?" Ty asked out of the blue.

"Oh. Um… yeah, I did." Wesley stuttered out.

"I'd like to apologize if I at all made you feel uncomfortable. You just looked like somebody familiar and I couldn't help but stare."

"I see. Well, don't feel bad, we all come across a situation like that at least once in our lives." Wesley said.

"Thank you understanding." Said Ty with a small nod of his head. "So, why exactly are you holding open the door?" He continued.

"Eh, just trying to show one way that chivalry isn't dead." Wesley said with a small smile.

Ty smiled much the same after Wesley said that. "A very noble pursuit."

"I'm glad you agree."

Ty then began to look at Wesley with the same appraisal as earlier today, albeit this time with a bit less intensity in his gaze.

"Um… you're looking at me like that again." Wesley said nervously.

"I'm fully aware of that." Ty said bluntly. "Do you have any free time as of now?" He questioned.

"I have a couple hours to kill, yeah. Why?"

"Come with me." With saying that, Ty turned on his heel and began to walk away, expecting Wesley to follow him.

Feeling somewhat cornered, Wesley began to follow the young man and asked:

"Wait, where are we going?"

"Have you ever heard of a place around town called The Hummingbird?"

Wesley recalled a piece of conversation he had with Morgan. He remembered she said it was a place she often spent her time at.

"An acquaintance of mine said it was a lounge nearby the school."

"You're right on the money. Now come on."

"Hold on, why do you have the sudden urge to take me there?"

Ty was apparently becoming impatient, as Wesley could clearly hear him give off an irritated sigh.

"For two reasons, mainly:" Ty began. "One, because I want to introduce you to somebody. Two, Morgan told me a bit about you and from what she's said you seem like a decent guy. Because of that, I'm wanting to at least try to get on good terms with you. Now, are you going to stand there all day or are you going to move?"

Wesley stood blank-faced for several moments, surprised at Ty's straightforwardness. After a few seconds of deliberation, Wesley said with a shrug of his shoulders:

"I guess I'll move."

Ty grinned. "Good." He said.

With that, the two young men began to walk towards their destination.

"So, I'm not certain if you overheard Veline say it when I came by your class, but my name is Ty."

"I heard, yes. It's nice to meet you, by the way. My name is-"

"Wesley, right?" Ty interrupted. "Morgan told me."

"Oh." Said Wesley. "I guess that saves us a step, eh?"

"Heh." Ty verbalized gruffly, the smallest of smiles on his face.

The two continued on in silence for a few more minutes. After a while, Wesley wanted to bring to light something that was bothering him about his bespectacled acquaintance.

"You know, I'm not saying this in a negative manner at all, but I've noticed you don't seem to be much of a talker."

"I don't like to waste time with pointless chatter." Ty said in what Wesley could now consider a trademarked blunt style, his bespectacled face not changing much in the way of expression. "The way I see it people are too focused on pointless anecdotes rather than actual conversation."

"I can definitely see where you're coming from."

Ty looked to Wesley in a confused manner and said:

"You… can?"

"Of course I can. In today's society, people can get a bit too hung up on fluff and lose sight of what actually makes a good conversation, or even argument for that matter, work: substantial talk between two people who understand each other."

Momentarily wearing a face of slight shock, Ty's demeanor soon transformed into one of subtle satisfaction.

"I can see why Morgan has taken a shine to you."

"You can? How so?" Wesley asked, genuinely curious.

"You very... what would be the word…? Understanding without being overly agreeable. You can look at another person's opinion and see its merit without either shoving your own down another person's throat or not stating it at all out of fear. It's a good quality to have.

"And you got all of this out of just the couple of statements I've made?" Wesley asked with a slight chuckle.

"Believe me, you should be happy what I've had to say about you is positive. Most of the time when I describe somebody I've just met the person usually punctuates it with the phrase 'Piss off'."

Both Wesley and Ty had a good laugh about that. Well, in Ty's case it was more of a chortle than a laugh.

After several more minutes of walking and comfortable silence, Wesley and Ty finally made it to their destination.

To say the establishment looked classy was a bit of an understatement.

Upon walking in to The Hummingbird, its neon sign showing a silhouette of its namesake currently deactivated, Wesley first noticed the stage. It wasn't too terribly large, but it appeared big enough to host a small band. On the subject of a band, musical accompaniment was currently being played, with a boy who seemed around Wesley's age, possibly a year or so younger, harping away on a saxophone with an upright bass player backing him up. They were playing quite well, from Wesley's perspective. That coupled with the leather furniture and different works of art on display gave off an air of 'coolness' that was impossible to ignore.

"Welcome to the Hummingbird." Ty said with a slight grin. "What do you think?"

"Is it possible to be physically attracted to a location?" Wesley asked, only slightly joking.

"Heh. I'm sure there's some fetish that would allow for that."

Looking around the lounge some more, Wesley noticed a café area to the side of the main lounge. Behind the counter where a man was currently working, Wesley could see a small refrigerator containing a beverage that made him exclaim:

"I'm in love with this place already!"

"I could gather that from your previous statement, but what made you say that?" Ty inquired.

Pointing to the refrigerator behind the café, Wesley said:

"This place has got Jones!"

"Jones? What might that be?"

"It's a gourmet soda company. You've never had any?"

"Can't say I have."

When hearing this, Wesley put a hand over his heart in mock-hurt and said:

"Oh Ty. You poor child."

"You do realize that I'm most likely older than you, right?"

"That was supposed to be the joke."

Ty stood blank-faced for a few moments before simply saying:

"… Oh."

"Well, regardless, I need to fix this travesty right now. Would you care for a Jones?" Wesley said whilst pulling out his wallet.

"Sure, I guess it couldn't hurt to try."

With that, the two young men walked to the café and Ty addressed the man working behind the counter.

"Hey, James."

Getting pulled out of his daze of work duties, the James fellow looked toward Ty and said:

"Ah, Ty! Say, who might this be?" James said, looking toward Wesley.

"This is Wesley. He's new in town, so I thought I'd show him this place."

"Hey, it's a good place to bring anybody! So, what can I get for you two?"

"Apparently, Wesley here thinks that Jones stuff back there is the best thing ever."

"We'll each have one of those." Wesley picked up after Ty.

"Comin' right up! What flavor do you each want?" Asked James.

"I'll take a Berry Lemonade." Said Wesley.

"And you, Ty?"

"Eh, I'll just have what he's having" Ty said, jerking his thumb over in Wesley's direction.

"Fair enough."

After the couple seconds it took to retrieve the Jones from the refrigerator, James put the two blue-liquid filled bottles on the counter and said:

"That'll be three dollars for each."

Fishing the necessary currency out of their wallets, Wesley and Ty paid for their Soda and each proceeded to lake a long drink from their bottles.

"That's pretty damn good." Ty said after his first drink.

"I told ya you were missing out."

"I'll concede that to you."

Wesley, now suddenly concerned about what the time was, pulled out his pocket watch to see where his standpoint was in the temporal continuum.

Ty, seeing the pocket watch, appeared as if he was going to say something, but was interrupted by a deep voice behind him saying:

"Ah, I've always loved pocket watches. Such a dignified way of keeping the time."

Wesley turned around to see who gave him the compliment. The man (who appeared to be in his late twenties, early thirties) was black with a lean but muscular build and had a shaved head. His eyes were so dark that you couldn't make out the color, like the eyes of a shark, almost. His smile was very shark like as well: Toothy and intimidating, with some of the pearliest whites Wesley had ever seen. As for his attire, he wore a purple button-up shirt with a grey blazer and matching chaps.

"Thank you for that." Said Wesley "Most people give me strange looks when they figure out I keep time with this."

"I do find it a shame that such a classy piece of machinery is now obsolete as of today." The man said.

"You and I both."

"So," The man began whilst clasping his hands and turning to Ty. "Who might this young man be, Tyrus?"

"First off, I keep telling you to never call me Tyrus." Ty said with annoyance. "And to answer your question, his name is Wesley."

"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you, Wesley. My name is Antony, I am the owner of this establishment."

"Actually, Antony," Ty interrupted. "I wanted to talk about something with you in private."

"Oh? What about?" Antony questioned.

Jerking his head toward Wesley, Ty said with a smile that could only be considered 'predatory':

"Possible new blood."

Antony's eyes grew wide and he began to look at Wesley in a peculiar way.

"I see." He said seriously.

Feeling slightly alienated about what exactly they were talking about, Wesley voiced his confusion.

"I don't understand, new blood for what."

"You see, Wesley," Ty started. "Antony here is a big donator to our school. As such, he's been able to form his own extracurricular program in conjunction with the school."

"Is that so? What exactly does this program do?" Wesley asked.

"Were essentially a trade building program." Antony said. "If you have an interest, we'll help you find a way to make it applicable into a skill to use in the real world." He advertised.

"I see. So, wait, you're considering me for a position in your group?" Wesley inquired, his excitement growing slightly.

"Maybe." Ty said bluntly. "Like I said, I'd like to talk about it with Antony first."

Saying that, Ty stood up and started to walk away with Antony. Before he left, however, Ty turned to Wesley and said:

"I'm most likely going to be a while, so you can just leave whenever you feel."

"Oh, okay. Say, thanks for introducing me to this place." Wesley said with gratitude.

"Of course."

With that, Ty walked to the back room that Antony was heading to and disappeared out of sight.

' _Well, that was certainly interesting.'_ Wesley thought.

Looking to his hand, Wesley realized that he still had his pocket watch out. Opening it, he looked to see that the time was getting close to when Katherine wanted him home.

' _Whoops. Better start heading out.'_

Placing his pocket watch back into its namesake and gathering his bottle of soda, Wesley started to head for the door. Not before taking one last look around the lounge to enjoy the music and the atmosphere.

' _I think I'm going to like it here.'_ Wesley thought with a smile.

* * *

"Now I'm going to ask you one more time: Are you certain about him?"

"No doubt about it, he's got what it takes. He just doesn't know yet."

"Who doesn't know yet?"

Ty and Antony looked the door of the small office to see Morgan walking in.

"Morgan. You're late." Ty said with slight annoyance.

"Excuse me, late? You just texted me five minutes ago, what do you expect me to have: Super speed?"

"Sorry. I'm just a bit antsy."

"What for?" Morgan inquired.

"Ty thinks he's found a possible new member." Antony said whilst resting his head on his folded hands.

"You serious? Who is it?"

"He goes by the name Wesley." Antony continued

"Wait, wait, wait… Wesley?" Morgan turned to Ty. "As in: The guy I told you about earlier today, Wesley?"

"That's the one." Ty answered plainly.

"Are you sure? I mean, you've barely had time to know him yet suddenly you think he's got potential?"

"I've been asking him the same thing for several minutes now." Antony looked towards Ty. "He doesn't seem willing to budge on his hunch."

"Look, look, look, I understand both of your worry in wanting to get somebody new involved. However, right now we need all the goddamned help we can get."

"I usually don't like to agree with you just out of spite," Morgan said jokingly "But you do have a point."

"Thanks for that." Ty said sarcastically.

"Be that as it may," Antony started. "What is it about this Wesley that makes him so special? Certainly you must have seen the spark in other people on your way today."

"That may be the case," ty admitted. "But there's something about his spark that's special. Usually when I see a spark, it's tiny and doesn't have much light to it. With Wesley, however, it's not so much a spark as it is a full on flame. It's burning so bright that his potential is practically screaming to be let loose!"

"You certainly seem passionate about this." Morgan said.

"I can't help it." Ty said with a genuine smile. "I've finally found somebody who could help us. I haven't felt this relieved than when I calm down from one of Nero's fits."

"Ugh, don't remind me about when Nero goes on a temper tantrum." Morgan said while shuddering. "The last time that happened he almost scorched my alive with a renegade fireball."

"Hey, Angelou was there to save you." Ty said defensively.

"That doesn't make it not have happened." Morgan growled.

"Enough." Antony interjected. "I'll make the preparations for his initiation tomorrow. Ty, I want you to come after to school tomorrow to help me prepare it. Morgan, make sure Wesley makes it to the Hummingbird as soon as possible tomorrow. Do both of you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Morgan and Ty said simultaneously.

"Very well. Is there anything else you wished to talk about?"

"Nope." Said Morgan.

"None that I can think of." Replied Ty.

"If that's the case, you both are excused." Antony said while gesturing to the door of his office.

With that, the two schoolmates walked out of the small room.

The room was silent for a while. That is until Antony began to pick up a sphere from his Newton's Cradle.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

' _Wesley, huh…?'_

 _Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Antony smiled.

' _We shall see soon enough if you have what it takes.'_

* * *

 **Good Morrow, People of Fanfiction! Sorry if most of this seemed like pointless chatter, I just wanted to introduce some characters and do some location building. That being said, leave your reviews and tell me what you think/what I can improve!**


	3. Thou Art I

Wesley awoke to the sensation of rainfall.

Not just the sound of rain, mind you, but the actual sensation of raindrops on his skin.

' _That's strange.'_ Thought Wesley. _'I could have sworn my window was closed.'_

Opening his eyes to inspect the source of the rainfall, Wesley was shocked to discover that he wasn't in his room, but rather an open field.

' _Wait, what? Where the hell am I?'_ Wesley pondered with worry.

Standing up with a jolt, Wesley figured it wouldn't do him any good to just stand around. As such, he began to walk.

After several minutes, Wesley was starting to see landmarks to his surroundings. Mainly trees and, strangely enough, headstones.

' _Well, one thing is for certain: I'm in some form of cemetery.'_

Walking several more meters, Wesley was strangely starting to feel some form of… familiarity in relation to his current location.

' _Wait…'_ Wesley thought with increasing panic. _'Isn't this the place they buried-'_

Wesley's thought process was cut short when he saw it:

Jay's headstone.

Wesley could only stare in dumbstruck silence after finding his brother's burial site.

' _I… I don't understand… why am I here?'_ Wesley inquired, attempting to keep a coherent train of thought.

' _Okay, hold on.'_ Wesley thought, trying to steel himself for any other possible revelations he might come across. _'You're in Seattle, Wesley. This is obviously a dream. It may be a bad one, but that's beside the point. All you have to do is wake up and-'_

"Something wrong, bro?"

Wesley flinched upon hearing the familiar voice, his train of thought coming to a screeching halt. Turning around very slowly, Wesley looked behind himself to reveal…

"J… Jay?"

The young man in question was standing with his usual lackadaisical stance, his hands in his pockets and shoulders slumped. Though his appearance would give off the impression of somebody lazy, he was actually quite fit, his lean muscle clearly visible through his clothing. His hair was brown with hints of blonde and was of the curly nature, some strands getting in the way of his eyes. All of his physical features, however (at least to Wesley's frame of reference), were nothing compared to the warm smile plastered on his brother's face.

"That's me." Jay answered with a slight chuckle at Wesley's pseudo-question.

"What… what are you doing here?" Wesley stuttered out, trying and failing miserably to keep his composure.

Maybe it was due to the small detail of his apparently deceased brother somehow being alive, but suddenly Wesley felt very dizzy and lightheaded. So much so that he tumbled to the ground below him.

"Wes!" Jay shouted in worry, rushing over to his brother's side.

Wesley's dizziness was becoming much more pronounced. It was becoming so bad that his vision was darkening tremendously and his hearing was muffled.

Jay reached Wesley and knelled down, stroking his hair comfortingly with a look of sympathy painted on his face.

"I…goi…to…b…alri…" Jay said, most of what he was saying blurred out by whatever ailment Wesley had just received.

Wesley couldn't hear any more after that, as soon he felt his consciousness fading…

* * *

To say Wesley woke up with a start would be quite the understatement.

Sitting up so fast that his covers essentially flew away from him, Wesley began to gasp for air whilst leaning his head into his hand.

' _God damn it.'_ Thought Wesley with disdain. _'When the hell am I going to get over this?'_

To that answer, Wesley couldn't find an answer. Even though it had been around five years, the death of his brother still plagued his mind on a very regular basis. It usually happened on nights such as these: Nothing of too much note had happened in terms of the current moments or the day proceeding it, and then suddenly… the Tendrils came out to play.

Wesley cringed. Tendrils were what he labeled his… less than desirable thoughts. Be it whenever he was thinking about Jay or something else that made him feel uncomfortable or small, Wesley called them Tendrils because it felt like they always wrapped around him and made him feel suffocated and incapacitated.

' _Now, I can't let these thoughts get the best of me. Maybe some fresh air would help.'_

Standing up from his bedside, Wesley remembered that the apartment had a balcony. Figuring that would be a good place to clear his head, Wesley stepped out of his room, avoiding some of his boxes of belongings while in the process of doing so, and opened his door.

Stepping into the living room, closing his door behind him, Wesley was slightly surprised to Katherine up and about at this hour. She didn't look too terribly well dressed, but it appeared as if she was going somewhere. Looking over her shoulder (as her back was turned to Wesley), Katherine jumped slightly when she caught her brother in her sights.

"Oh, Wes. What are you doing up at this hour?" Katherine questioned, her voice very clearly trying to fight off her grogginess.

"I could ask you the same question." Wesley replied. "It looks like you're going somewhere."

"Oh, yeah. Apparently the theatre just got some new backdrops and they're needing me to help set them up." Katherine said with mild annoyance.

Wesley winced in sympathy for his sister. He knew she loved her job over at the performing arts center, but sometimes the things the higher ups expected her to do were downright ridiculous. She was only one person, after all.

"That sucks. Sorry to hear that, sis."

"Eh, it's alright." Katherine said with a weary smile. "They were probably going to ask me to do it at another time anyway, so I might as well get it done early."

"I suppose you have a point." Wesley said.

"You still haven't answered my question, though:" Katherine began. "What are you doing up?"

Wesley hesitated for a moment. Katherine always worried when something related to his mental well-being cropped up, and she had enough on her plate as of now. Wesley figured, though, that he should at least tell his sister some of the truth.

"Oh, I just couldn't really sleep. I don't know why, but something was keeping me wired. I thought I might as well step out on the balcony and get some fresh air, to see if that does anything to help."

"Oh, I see. Well, hopefully you get some sleep." Katherine said as she began to walk towards the front door. "Love you." She finished while giving a slight wave.

"Love you too." Wesley reciprocated.

With that, Katherine exited.

Wesley exhaled with relief. Either she didn't notice his lie or she chose to ignore it due to her sleepiness. Either way, he was free from Katherine's excessive worrying. At least for now.

Turning his heel toward to sliding glass door, Wesley stepped through it onto the balcony.

The air was cool, but not cold enough to be unbearable. It was still late summer, after all. The streets were quiet, with not much in terms of activity going on at that present moment excluding the occasional passing of a car.

Suddenly becoming concerned about what time it might be, Wesley rushed back into the apartment to retrieve his pocket watch.

Upon finding it, Wesley stepped outside once again before looking at it.

' _Maybe I should talk to somebody about my borderline obsession with this thing.'_ Wesley thought while looking at his most prized possession. _'I mean, I could have easily just checked the clock on the wall or the microwave even and would have saved some time, but nope: It has to be with this.'_

Finally opening his pocket watch, Wesley found that it was a few minutes after two. Scowling at himself for being up so late, he decided to focus on the inner wall of the watch's clamp.

'Wesley Avery Holton' it said in permanent black ink.

Wesley couldn't help but be filled with pleasant memories at the sight of his full name. Something about it gave him an odd sense of pride. This was partly due to the fact that Avery was his father's first name, and he had boundless appreciation for that man.

' _I know it's only been a couple days, but I wonder what he's been doing without me. Maybe I should give him a call and check up on him.'_

The thought of talking with his father made Wesley smile. He could tell him about the acquaintances he had met and how interesting of a place The Hummingbird seemed. He could finally give his dad some news about his mental state that was positive for once.

Placing both of his hands on the railing before him, Wesley looked to the Seattle skyline. With the tall structures looming in the distance and the lights of the buildings blazing, it looked like something straight from a professionally shot post card. The only thing that really broke the composition of the view was a parking garage directly across the street from the apartment complex. With its uneven rectangular shape and dull grey color, its appearance was just plain ugly in contrast with the sleek and modern buildings it was among.

On the subject of the parking garage, something caught Wesley's eye on the sidewalk next to the building. There were two people approaching it, a man and a woman by the looks of them. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about them seemed oddly familiar to Wesley. Then, it hit him:

' _Hold on, is that… Morgan and Ty?'_

That appeared to be the case. His two acquaintances were approaching the parking garage. Something about them seemed… off, however. It looked as if they were carrying… something not of everyday use. Weapons, by the looks of it. Not modern weapons, though. Ty seemed to be carrying a sheath for some form of sword while Morgan appeared to be toting some kind of spear.

' _What in the world are those two doing there? Let alone at this time of night and with… those kinds of weapons. Why would they need weapons in the first place?'_

Wesley let these questions stew in his brain for several minutes, before shrugging them off and deciding he'd ask them tomorrow. With that mental proclamation, Wesley turned his back to the skyline and decided to try and get some more sleep.

Fate, however, didn't seem to have sleep on her mind.

Before Wesley could turn around and head back inside, he heard what sounded like a fire blazing and saw a flash of reddish-orange light. Turning swiftly back to the parking garage, Wesley kept seeing and hearing the bursts of flame, as well as a second form of energy: This one being green and sounding like a wicked gale of wind. These seemed to be emanating from around the third or fourth floor.

Wesley's mind went into overdrive. What could be happening? Was it Ty and Morgan causing this? Or if not, were they in danger? Through these and whatever other amount of reasons, Wesley decided to go over and check out what was happening.

Slipping into a simple pair of jeans, a black T-shirt and a hoodie, Wesley rushed out of the apartment and started climbing down the flight of stairs. He almost turned back to grab his pocket watch, but feeling it in its namesake he remembered he already had it.

Finally making it outside, Wesley began to run towards the parking garage across the street. While doing so, his nerve-wracked state couldn't help but let his mind wander:

' _What in the world are you doing?'_ He thought, scolding himself. _'You have no idea what's going on over there, what makes you think you could help? Besides, you barely know those two, why are you suddenly so attached to them that you would run to their 'rescue' at 2:00 in the morning?'_

Wesley supposed his brain had a point. However, he had an argument for each of the points stated.

For one, maybe he didn't know what was going on over there, but couldn't help but be drawn to the near supernatural nature of what was going on.

Secondly, while it may be true he barely knew Morgan and Ty, Wesley couldn't help but feel a special connection between the two of them already. More so, Wesley didn't have much in terms of 'friends' back home, mainly just people he talked with when there was downtime in class, and whenever he met somebody new he mainly just said hello and nodded along politely to whatever they were saying. With those two, on the other hand, Wesley bothered to learn what their interests were and what they wanted to do. Well, at least in Morgan's case.

Finally making it to the other side of the street, Wesley made his way into the parking garage. Stopping momentarily to hear and see where the sounds and lights were coming from, Wesley saw a dull flash of light coming from the stairwell to his right. Speeding towards them like a bullet, he began to climb the stairs, his legs burning immensely from his prior running.

At last making it to where the sounds and lights were coming from, Wesley stopped and put his back against the small outcropping of wall leading out from the stairwell. After a few minutes, the noises and flashes of light began to stop, and in its place a feminine voice spoke:

"You think that's the last of them?"

' _Yep, that's definitely Morgan.'_ Thought Wesley.

"I think so. Antony said that the presence was in around the fourth floor. I'm just glad they were such pushovers."

' _And there's Ty.'_

"That may be," Morgan started. "But I have the strangest feeling that were being… watched. Is that weird?" She questioned.

"Not at all, I feel it all the time. It's a basic hunter-gatherer instinct." Ty replied.

"Eh, if you say so-"

 _Click_

"… What was that?" Morgan said.

"I don't know," Ty began. "But keep your guard up and your weapon drawn."

Still pushing himself against his outcropping, Wesley was starting to get worried.

 _Click_

Where was that sound coming from? To Wesley, whatever that clicking was sounded like some form of insect. This may have also been his paranoia getting the better of him, but Wesley also though it was about to pounce.

 _Click._

Wesley froze (at least more so than he was). It sounded as if the noise was coming from directly above him.

' _Do I dare look up?'_

His decisions was already made for him, though, as he began to slowly crane his neck upwards.

Suddenly, he caught sight of it… but not before it lunged towards him.

Wesley could barely see its long spindly legs, tiny black body and shiny stinger before it landed on his head and started…

… Burrowing.

"AAAAHH!"

Wesley was currently in the bouts of the worst physical pain he had ever experienced. He could feel the flesh of the small circle that was the center of his head being ripped off and shoved aside. Even worse, once it had reached his skull, Wesley could feel whatever it was crawling inside his head. After several moments of that, Avery could finally feel the creature on the surface of his brain. Coupled with the sounds it was making whilst situating itself in what Wesley could only assume was one of the many crevices in his maze of grey matter, It was just as much psychological torture as it was physical.

Morgan and Ty, Having heard somebody's scream, came rushing over to where the sound was emanating. They looked to the stairwell to discover Wesley on his knees with his hands on his head, still screaming his lungs out.

"Oh my god, Wesley! What happened!?" Morgan exclaimed while rushing over to whom she shouted for.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ty inquired, quiet worry laced in his voice.

At the current moment, Wesley couldn't answer either of their questions as the pain was still too much.

Crouching down to inspect what Wesley's hands were covering, Morgan moved them aside and gasped in horror at what she saw.

"Holy Shit! There's a hole in his head!"

"What!?" Ty sped over to Morgan's side to look at the supposed injury. When he saw it, Ty couldn't believe his eyes.

"Jesus Christ…" He whispered. "Can you heal him?" Ty continued in as even of a voice he could muster.

"I'll try." Said Morgan.

Fiddling with what appeared to be a necklace, Morgan murmured to it:

"Alright, Angelou, I know it's been a long night, but I need your help just once more…"

With that said, a blue glow erupted around Morgan. The same light began to surround Wesley, and for some reason some of his pain began to wear off. Not all of it, mind you, but still some of it.

Morgan, after this strange display of power, collapsed to her knees and began to breathe heavily.

"Sorry," She started. "But I think that's all I can do. Tonight has been pretty tiring for Angelou."

"Understandable. I know how finicky she can be." Ty said.

"A-are you okay?" Wesley asked, still too weak to form a more complicated sentence.

Morgan gave a mixed look of worry and appreciation to her acquaintance and said:

"I'm going to be fine, thank you. What about you though?"

"Hurts… so much."

Morgan winced in sympathy. "I'm so sorry."

"Alright, I know you're in a lot of pain, but I need you to stay with me for a bit." Ty said whilst kneeling down to Wesley's level.

"First off," Ty began. "Why are you here?"

"I saw… lights… from across the street. I saw… you and Morgan come in here and I thought… you were in danger."

"I see." Ty said, a steely look on his face. "Damnit," he whispered. "I knew we were making too much of a commotion."

"Well, we can't change that now." Morgan chimed in. "What about that hole in your head: who or what did that to you?"

"I… I don't…"

Suddenly, Wesley felt what little of himself was there slipping. His vision was darkening and his hearing was becoming muffled.

' _Gee,'_ Wesley thought sarcastically. _'I wonder how this is familiar.'_

"No, no, no, no, stay with me now." Ty said, a more worried disposition painting his face.

"I'm just… so tired…"

"Come on, don't fade on me! Wesley? Wesley…?"

* * *

It was the sound of crackling fire that gave away Wesley was somewhere different.

The feeling of a soft carpet beneath him also tipped him off that he was in a different location. Standing up slowly and shakily, Wesley took a look around his surroundings.

He appeared to be in a study of some sort, with leather bound chairs and bookshelves surrounding the area on all sides. The fire that Wesley was hearing was emanating from a brick fireplace, the only source of light in the otherwise dark room. This gave off an air of coziness that was near impossible to ignore.

"So… you have awoken."

Wesley turned to where the gruff voice was coming from. He looked to see a man with his back turned to him whilst sitting in a chair. He appeared to be wearing a suite of some sort with coattails, as they were dangling from an opening from his chair. With this coat he wore black slacks and black dress shoes.

"Who… who are you?" Wesley asked shyly.

"Who am I?" The man said while standing up from his chair. He then turned around to reveal his face.

Well, face might be an incorrect term, as it appeared to be more of a mask than a face. Even if it was a mask, I didn't have much in terms of expression. The only two notable features of the 'face' were 1: A mustache that that complimented his messy hair that (strangely) seemed to flow with some form of energy and 2: two holes near the upper region of the 'mask' that served as his eye sockets. The holes themselves seemed fixated in a permanent glare, and his eyes… were something else, that is for certain.

The part that served as his eyes were jet black, like black holes. Much alike black holes, and Wesley didn't know why, but he felt like he was going to be sucked into them if he stared long enough. Around them, however, was a halo of white light that made the eyes look more like an eclipse than a black hole.

"Who I am…" The strange man began, pausing for a while.

"…Yes?" Wesley said, feeling nervous.

"I am thou… and thou art I." The man said matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?"

"You and I, we are one and the same." The man continued.

"I don't understand."

"Let me ask you a question," The man said, seemingly unaware or uncaring of Wesley's confusion. "Have you ever heard of a philosophy known as Nihilism?"

Wesley flinched, taken aback by the strange question. Despite this, he supposed he should at least answer.

"Yes, it's the belief that all life is meaningless, right?"

"Correct." The man said bluntly. "Now, let me ask you another question: Do you believe in Nihilism?"

Wesley had to stop and think about the question just posed to him. He had to admit, there were many points in his life where he felt like everything was pointless. However, Wesley did have his own view on the matter.

"Well… somewhat. While I do believe it true that sometimes life can seem meaningless, I think a more positive spin on the near fatalistic outlook on life Nihilism has would be that 'Life has no meaning unless we give it one'. So, if were talking about that kind of viewpoint, then yes: I do believe in Nihilism. At least, somewhat."

The man was silent for a few moments after Wesley had given his answer. This silence was broken, however, by the man giving a deep chuckle.

"Heh. A very naïve answer." The man must have noticed Wesley's change in expression at this statement, as soon afterwards he said:

"However, it is a very hopeful one. We can't fault one for having hope in a world as bleak as ours, can we?"

The man then proceeded to look Wesley directly in the eye and say:

"Now tell me: Do you wish to find meaning in your existence?"

Wesley kept eye contact with the man. While this gentleman was certainly strange, Wesley couldn't deny that he carried himself in such a way that taking him seriously was nearly demanded. As such, Wesley gave the man his most truthful answer.

"I do." Wesley said.

"Then shake my hand," the man said whilst holding said appendage out. "And I will lead you towards your destiny. Be warned, though: once you step on this path, there will be no turning back."

Wesley thought of the man's warning for several moments. This man could be dangerous, why should he trust him with something as monumental as his 'destiny'? Then again, much like that Igor fellow from a few days ago, everything regarding this man seemed too real and too powerful to ignore.

"Please…" Wesley began, taking the man's hand in his.

"… Guide me." He said with newfound resolve.

"… I will." The man said.

With that, the room suddenly erupted into white light, and Wesley could once again feel his grip on the world slipping…

* * *

"C'mon, wake up!"

Wesley was awoken by somebody shaking him. That someone, by his view of things, appeared to be Morgan.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Wesley clarified, wanting the shaking to stop. He was already feeling lightheaded and the constant movement didn't necessarily help things.

"Oh, you're up!" Morgan exclaimed, thankfulness drenching her voice. "I was about to assume the worse."

"Well, thankfully, you don't have to assume any longer." Wesley said, putting a hand to his head to try and stave off the oncoming headache he knew he was going to have.

"So, how're you feeling?" Morgan asked, a worried look pointing her face.

"I'm feeling pretty lightheaded, but other than that I guess I'm doing okay."

"That's good, I suppose. Well don't worry, Ty is outside calling Antony, he should be getting some special medical attention for you-"

Morgan stopped talking when suddenly both she and Wesley heard a noise. It sounded like simultaneous squishing and tapping.

"Oh no… I thought we got rid of them all. I can't fight in this condition." Morgan said blank faced

"Wait, got rid of all of what? Also, what you mean by 'fight'?"

"I don't have time to explain," Morgan said while shakily standing up and pulling up Wesley with her. "I just need you to run to Ty and-"

Morgan was cut off by something dropping down from the ceiling.

"AH!" Morgan yelped out.

From what Wesley could see of it, it appeared to be a giant spider. This spider was strange, however, not just because of its size, but on its abdomen there lay a mask. This mask was light blue and it appeared to be frowning, and had the roman numeral of one on its forehead.

"Oh god, were surrounded!" Morgan shouted. She was right, although from their destination there weren't many places to be surrounded from. By that as it may, either from the stairs or the opening to the garage, there seemed to be no way around the strange creatures.

"Please god, let this work." Morgan whispered as she once again pulled out her necklace and began murmuring to it.

Suddenly, Wesley had a strong urge to look at his pocket watch. Not to check to time, no, but for some… unexplainable, near supernatural pull leading him along.

"Um, Wes? Now really isn't the moment to check the time." Morgan said worriedly.

Wesley wasn't listening, thought. Looking at the smooth silver casing protecting the time piece, he gazed into his own reflection. Then, Wesley heard the voice of the strange man he had met earlier echo in his head:

' _The time is now. Awaken your destiny.'_

After saying this, all of a sudden the pocket watch began to glow a bright blue hue.

"Wait… what?" Morgan said confusedly, both at Wesley's pocket watch and the fact that the strange creatures hadn't attacked yet.

Then, for whatever reason, Wesley began to grin wickedly…

… And then the word finally came to him

"Per… So… Na!"

Wesley pressed the opening button on his pocket watch, creating an eruption of blue flame and producing a loud shattering sound. From this blue flame, the strange man from earlier arose from it, coattails billowing from the energy surrounding him.

"Wow…" Morgan gasped.

Mainly given away by their constantly moving legs, the humongous spiders were seeming to be getting antsy. So much so, that one began to pounce. Luckily, Wesley was able to see this, and as such grabbed Morgan by the arm and ran both her and himself away from the threat.

The Spiders were not deterred by this, however, as they soon began to chase after the two. Luckily, Wesley pressed down on his pocket watch again to call upon the man, which somehow he finally knew the name of.

"Nietzsche!" he called out.

Once having done so, Nietzsche arose and gestured towards one of the spiders. Just before it was about it strike, it was suddenly encased in crystalline ice, and shortly afterwards dissipated into reddish-black gunk.

Having seen its partner eliminated, the second spider came forward with a vengeance. It wasn't long, however, before it was stopped by a wicked gale of green wind. It didn't disappear like its brother, but it appeared to at least be knocked onto its back. Looking back, Wesley saw Morgan clutching her necklace and panting heavily.

Turning his attention back to the spider, Wesley was a perfect opportunity. Reaching into the darker park of his psyche while doing so, he pressed down on his pocket watch once more. Nietzsche once again materialized, and with him came a circle of dark sigils surrounding the spider still on its back. Putting all of his focus into the attack, Wesley hoped with all his might that this attack would work. Apparently it did, as soon after the spider squealed in pain and disappeared much like its partner.

Wesley stood triumphant, having conquered over the beasts.

"Wesley, that was amazing!" Morgan said from behind.

Turning around to see Morgan still panting, but at the same time smiling, Wesley was about to reply to her. It's a shame that his legs felt as if they were made of nothing and his head once again felt as if it was being split open. These in conjunction with the exhaustion he was feeling from whatever power he was using made Wesley collapse to the floor.

"Wesley!" Morgan exclaimed, running as fast as she could in her state towards his side.

For around, what was it, the third time of the night? Wesley's vision began to darken and all sound became muffled, and slowly but surely he drifted back into the world of unconsciousness…

* * *

 **Good morrow, people of Fanfiction! Sorry if the fight scene was at all sloppy, that was probably my first time writing one of them. Be that as it may, please leave your reviews and tell me what you think!**


	4. In Audience with the Emperor

"Welcome."

Wesley opened his eyes, only to be greeted by soft blue light. Looking across from his current position, Wesley could only make the assumption that he was in the Velvet room. He could infer this due to the previously mentioned blue light, the appearance of his location (still taking the shape of a mausoleum), and most importantly the man who sat across from him.

"Igor…" Wesley said, addressing the man. He was still wearing the same eager smile Wesley had first seen him in.

"It appears that you have finally awoken to your power." Igor said with quiet delight.

"Power… wait, you mean what just happened: That was the Persona power you were speaking of when I first met you?"

"That is correct, yes." Igor clarified.

Wesley leaned back in the chair he hadn't realized he'd been sitting in, dumfounded.

"Is something the matter?" Igor asked, genuinely curious.

Wesley looked slowly back to Igor, and said sarcastically:

"Oh no, nothing is the matter. I mean, it's not like I just received the near satanic power of summoning somebody that can conjure ice and use dark magic!"

Igor began to chuckle.

"If you're trying to make me feel at ease, it's not working." Wesley said bluntly.

"My apologies," Igor began. "It has just been some time since I've had a guest in this Velvet Room. As such, I've forgotten how humorous it can be to see the reaction of one gaining the power of Persona."

Wesley exhaled deeply, resting his head on his hands (in a fashion similar to how Igor was sitting).

"Well, I suppose tragedy is the root for all comedy." Wesley said begrudgingly.

"I suppose it is." Igor said. "So, I take it after what you have just experienced you have many questions for me."

Upon hearing this, Wesley jumped at his chance to finally get some answers.

"That's an understatement. First off, I need to know: What exactly is 'Persona'?"

"A persona is a façade that represents your personality. Think of it as a… mask you wear to overcome the hardships of life."

"Wait, so that Nietzsche person, whoever that was supposed to be: He's a representation of my personality?"

Igor seemed to perk up slightly when Wesley mentioned the name Nietzsche, as when Wesley finished his question, Igor posed his own right back at him in the form of:

"Ah, so it was Nietzsche that answered your call?"

"Um, yeah."

"How interesting… yet how fitting as well."

Wesley looked perplexed.

"Fitting? What do you mean by that?" He questioned.

Suddenly, Igor materialized a deck of cards from thin air. They seemed to be the tarot cards he used during their last meeting. Spreading them out in a curved fashion, Igor plucked the card from the middle and flipped it over. It depicted a man with a straw hat and a bindle hopping on one foot. The man also appeared to have a dog at his heels.

"You see," Igor started. "The Arcana you are most representative of, like many of my previous guests, is The Fool. This card is like the number zero: Empty, yet full of possibility."

"Okay… what does that have to do with this whole Nietzsche business?" Asked Wesley.

"Well, you are aware of Nietzsche's philosophy, yes?" Igor inquired right back.

Wesley wracked his brain for the name 'Nietzsche'. It did seem rather familiar. Be it from a history class or an old textbook, the name 'Nietzsche' did seem to ring some sort of bell. Then, recalling the conversation he had with Nietzsche, Wesley was finally able to put two and two together:

"He's the founder of Nihilism, right?"

"That is correct, yes. I take it you also know what the belief of Nihilism entails, yes?"

"I do. It's the underlying belief that life is meaningless."

"Correct once again." Igor said. "Now, wouldn't you agree that its quite fitting that a representative of the Fool is also finds belief in nothingness?" he continued.

Wesley's face became blank at the realization he just made (due to Igor's prior explanation).

"When you put it like that, there's actually quite a bit of sense in Nietzsche being of this 'Fool' arcana you speak of."

"I'm glad you see my point. Now, do you have any other questions?"

"A couple, yes. For one, why exactly was I able to activate this 'Persona' ability" Wesley reached into his pocket, pulling out his watch. "By opening my pocket watch?"

"Well, do you have any form of special connection with this object that you speak of?"

"I do, yes."

"Then why not be able to summon your Persona through it? Surely you realize that people often use objects of importance as an extension of their personality."

"Hmmm… I guess you have a point." Wesley admitted. "Now, for my final question:" Upon saying this, Wesley reached up to his head and pointed to the now missing small hole of flesh from whatever drilled in there. "What exactly burrowed into my head? Can you answer me that?"

Igor chuckled softly before saying:

"A very valid question, you have just posed me. Sadly, I cannot answer it."

Wesley's face morphed into one of disappointment, and after doing such said:

"Why not?"

"To answer that, I first must explain the function of this room." Igor gestured around the area, calling special attention the stained-glass windows and the coffin between him and his guest. "I tend to this room so that I may help my guests achieve their fate. With that being said, I may sometimes withhold information from you due to the fact that if give away too much, your future may be forever lost. Do you understand?"

Wesley looked down in a pensive manner, surprised at what Igor had just said.

' _My future may be forever lost? Jesus, that sounds pretty heavy… Who exactly is this man?'_

Looking towards the host of the Velvet Room, Wesley surmised that due to most of what Igor said being extremely helpful with the introduction of these new and confusing features in his life, he couldn't be very malicious in intent.

"… I understand." Wesley finally responded.

"Good. Now, for what I have summoned you here for: I called you here to explain that very soon you will enter a Contract, the likes of which will bind you to your fate."

"A… Contract?" Wesley asked.

"A Contract can be any form of an agreement." Igor explained. "It is imperative that you accept this Contract, for without it, you may never unlock your fate. When you accept this contract, all that I ask of you is that you take responsibility for your actions. Can you agree to this?"

Wesley thought for a moment, before responding with:

"I believe I can, yes."

"Excellent. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to call back what we were discussing earlier about The Fool."

"Oh yeah? What about it?"

"You recall how I described The Fool, yes?"

"Empty but full of possibility, right?" Wesley recalled.

"Right you are. However, while I still am certain that you are of The Fool, something… doesn't seem to sit right with you."

Wesley suddenly became worried.

"What makes you say that?" He asked in a perplexed tone.

"Nietzsche makes me say that. He seems far too... intent on being your main persona. Don't misunderstand me, though: There seems to be some form of the power of the infinite waiting to be discovered within Nietzsche, and there are several other forms of his yet to be discovered by you. I just wanted to call attention to what was disturbing me. That is all."

"I… See?"

"I understand that all of this may seem very confusing to you, but trust me: all will become clear eventually."

"If you say so." Wesley said, trusting Igor.

"Now, there is one last thing I wish to converse with you about."

"That being?"

"Social Links."

Wesley cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"What might those be?"

"Social Links are the bonds and connections you form with other people. Trust me when I say, though you may not wish for this, your goal cannot and will not be accomplished without the aid of other people."

"Hmmm." Wesley said in thought. He had to admit he didn't have the best track record with people. However, if Igor said it was necessary, Wesley supposed he had no other choice than to befriend at least some people. Besides, he was already starting to take a shine to people like Morgan and Ty. Maybe it wouldn't be so difficult after all.

"Alright. I'll do my best to make some Social Links."

"Good. Now, take this."

Igor made a flourished gesture with his hand and somehow produced a blue key. Wesley took it when Igor offered it, and put it in his pocket next to his watch.

"The next time you come here, it will be a decision made by your own will."

"I see."

"When next we see each other, we will speak more of anything that you may want to know, and I will demonstrate to you my abilities. Until we meet again."

With that being said by Igor, Wesley began to feel his consciousness slipping, being blinded out by white…

* * *

"Alright… wait, hold on, I think he's waking up!"

Slowly opening his eyes and adjusting to the soft light around him, Wesley took a look at his surroundings. Crouching before him was a man in white with a comforting expression and a small flashlight at the ready. He had a fairly muscular build, black hair with a matching beard and electric blue eyes. Several feet behind him in what looked like an office, Wesley could see Ty conversing with who appeared to be Antony. Making a realization due to the leather chair he was in and the stage in the background, Wesley came to the conclusion that he was at The Hummingbird.

' _Strange.'_ Thought Wesley, wearily. _'I could have sworn I was at that parking garage last.'_

"Hello there, Wesley." The man in white said. "How are you feeling?"

Repositioning himself to sit more straight, Wesley felt a wave of nausea and the spike of a headache hit him. Wesley decided he should probably communicate that with the doctor. At least, Wesley assumed the man was a doctor.

"I'm feeling nauseous and I've got a headache. Other than that, I'm feeling pretty normal. Well, other than the fact that I have a hole in my head." Wesley added sarcastically.

The doctor gave a small laugh at this statement and said shortly afterwards:

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. We got you patched up."

Feeling towards his head, Wesley realized the doctor was right. There was a small row of stitches where the split in his head used to be. Upon making this realization, Wesley breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much." He told the doctor.

Putting his hand on Wesley's shoulder briefly, the doctor said:

"Don't mention it. Well," he started to call the office behind him. "He seems to be alright."

Having heard this proclamation, Ty and Antony stopped their conversation and stepped into the lounge.

"Are you certain?" Antony questioned.

"Fairly. He says he's feeling nauseous, but that's pretty normal in circumstances such as these." The doctor answered. "Right now he should get home as soon as possible and get some rest."

"Alright. Once again, William, thank you for coming on such short notice." Said Antony.

"Of course. Anything I can do to help, I'm happy to do it. Have a good night." The William fellow said whilst heading towards the door to The Hummingbird. Before he exited, however, he turned around and said:

"Oh, and Wesley, I recommend that for the next few days you try and take it easy. I understand that it's the beginning of school, but if you feel too nauseous it might be best for you to stay home that day."

"Duly noted." Answered Wesley.

With that, the doctor shook his head in affirmation and walked out of the door. After this, Antony positioned himself in front of Wesley and began to speak.

"So… I take it you have many questions for me."

"You could say that, yeah."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but tonight you won't be able to have any of them answered. As William said, you need to get some rest right away." Antony said with genuine sympathy.

Wesley gave a small sigh of annoyance before saying:

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't really go against the doctor's orders."

"Right you are." Antony began, putting a hand on Wesley's shoulder. "However, I promise you: Any questions you may have, I will be happy to answer them tomorrow."

"So that's all the time I have to wait? Until tomorrow?" Wesley asked.

"Right you are." Antony said with a warm smile.

"Very well. I can wait that long."

"Excellent." Antony began to walk towards the door to The Hummingbird. "Well, I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Ty, could you lock up the place for me when Morgan arrives?"

"Sure." Ty said.

"Thank you. Good night, to the both of you." Antony said whilst walking out of the door.

With Antony out of sight, Ty plopped himself down into the chair adjacent to Wesley's.

"Well then… You've certainly had quite a night." He said.

"That, my friend, is the understatement of the century." Wesley replied.

He and Ty had a good bout of laughter after that statement.

"Regardless," Ty started. "On behalf of Morgan and me, I'd like to apologize."

"Why is that?"

"If you hadn't seen Morgan and me use our abilities, you wouldn't have come over to the parking garage."

"Oh, don't worry yourself." Wesley said with a wave of his hand, as if to brush off the subject. "There's no way you could have known that I live across the street from that place. If anything, I should apologize for butting in to whatever it was you were doing."

"Hm. Maybe so."

The two sat in a semi-awkward silence for a while before Ty broke it with:

"Hey, though, there is a bright side to all of this."

"What might that be?" Wesley questioned.

"This expedites the process of your joining our club by a few days." Ty said with a small smile.

"Club…?" Wesley stared at Ty in confusion for a few moments before coming to a realization, eyes widening as a result.

"Wait, wait, wait, so you're saying that what you were doing in that garage: That's what the club actually does?"

"Pretty much. Antony can explain it better tomorrow, but for a general overview: Morgan, me, and hopefully you go around to assigned locations and destroy those creatures. Oh, and for future reference, those monsters are called Shadows."

"Shadows…" Wesley near whispered, still trying to wrap his head around this overload of new information.

"Listen," Ty said, his tone shifting from his normal blunt way of presenting things to a more friendly voice. "I understand that all of this must be rather confusing. Trust me, I felt the same when I was first introduced to all of this nonsense. However, I also know that you're something special."

Wesley looked to Ty in slight confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You see, along with my regular… abilities, let's call them-"

"You mean Persona?" Wesley interrupted, recalling his discussion with Igor and the summoning of his own.

Ty looked surprised.

"Yeah, that's right. How did you know the name?"

"The name just came to me when I summoned my own."

"I see. Anyways, where was I?"

"You were just about to get into how I was 'special'."

"Right. You see, apart from my regular persona, its name begin Nero, I have the ability to see the… let's call it 'potential' of other people."

"Potential?"

"You see Wesley, it doesn't matter who you are: Anybody can acquire a Persona. However some people, more so than others, have a better chance of obtaining one. Maybe it's because they have a strong sense of judgement or possibly it's due to them surviving a traumatic event. Right from the moment I saw you: I could tell you were one of those people. More so than others, in fact."

"How exactly could you tell?" Asked Wesley.

"Whenever I see the potential of another person, I see it as a sort of 'spark'. Sometimes the spark shines and other times it doesn't. With you, however, your spark wasn't really shining so much as it seemed on fire."

Wesley's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing that statement.

"It was that intense?"

"Indeed it was." Ty said with a smile.

"I see…" Wesley began to look down in thought. What exactly was it that made him stick out above others when it came to his spark? He didn't really have anything he could consider a strong suit spiritually (At least that's what Wesley thought) and he couldn't remember surviving any form of traumatic event. Well, there was the 'incident' a while back, but what wasn't so much 'surviving' something. More like 'refusing to let it happen' would be a more appropriate term for it.

"By that look on your face, I take it you've got a lot on your mind." Ty said.

Wesley turned to Ty and gave him a half-smile. This was followed by Wesley saying in a voice dripping with sarcasm:

"No man, I don't have much on my mind. I'm just trying to grip with the fact that, you know, monsters exist."

After Wesley saying this, Ty gave his own half-smile back at him and said:

"I completely understand you wanting to turn to sarcasm to feel at least somewhat comfortable in a situation like this. However, I recommend not trying to lean on it too often. In times like these it's best to just deal with what's troubling you as seriously as possible without any mask of something to hide behind."

Wesley leaned back in his chair and looked up to the ceiling. He couldn't deny that Ty was right, but he was still semi-reluctant to do as he said. For one, it was still so hard to wrap his head around all that he had been introduced to without falling back to the old comfort of sarcasm. Secondly, sarcasm was one of the things he defined himself by, if he suppressed it god knows how depressed he would feel.

Several moments passed in silence between the two young men before Ty broke it one again.

"I completely understand if you don't really trust us. Hell, I'm distrusting as is, so if I was in your shoes I'd probably just say a hearty 'hell no' to all of what Antony has to say and get out of here. However, and I'm sorry to put you in this position, but we really need you right now."

"Okay, first off, before I ask this, I'd like to apologize that most of what I've been saying is just questions. Now secondly, why do you say that?" Wesley asked.

"There's quite a bit on Morgan and I's plate at the moment. Coupled with school, social obligations and, you know, having a night job of fighting monsters, It's hard to keep up with it all without getting overly exhausted."

"I can definitely understand that." Wesley said.

"Though keep in mind, we don't want you around just to help with busywork. We really think you're special and we want to make sure your abilities don't either A.) Go to waste and or B.) Get out of control."

Upon saying 'out of control', Ty's expression changed to one of what Wesley would label bitterness and he looked down towards the floor.

"Is something the matter?" Wesley inquired.

"Huh?" Ty snapped out of his stupor. "Oh, it's nothing."

Wesley looked at Ty skeptically. It obviously wasn't 'nothing', but it also seemed to be something Ty didn't want to converse about. As such, Wesley decided to leave whatever was troubling him alone.

"If you say so." He responded.

"Anyways," Ty began. "The main point that I'm getting at is this: We think you're special and we want to figure out what exactly makes you special. However, we can't really do that unless you join our 'club'." Upon saying this, Ty stood up, stuck out his hand and continued on with:

"So what do you say: Are you with us?"

Wesley was at first hesitant to shake Ty's hand. He barely knew anything about the guy, let alone all this 'Shadow' business that he was talking about. However, from out of nowhere, something Igor had said was brought to his attention.

' _A Contract can be any form of agreement. It is imperative that you accept this Contract, for without it, you may never unlock your fate.'_

Could this be the Contract that Igor was speaking of? This seemed to be an agreement of much importance, maybe shaking his hand would quote-on-quote 'sign' the Contract. Even disregarding all of the Contract business, taking a look at Ty he could see there was genuine friendship in his eyes and with his offer. Even from the short time he knew the young man, he could already feel something forming between them. With newfound resolve, Wesley stood up and took Ty's hand in his.

"I am with you." Wesley said.

Ty began to smile wide. "Just what I wanted to hear."

Suddenly, Wesley's vision began to dim. Holding his head and stumbling back several steps, he then began to see what appeared to be one of Igor's tarot cards fading into existence in front of him. In fact, Wesley recognized it as The Emperor card from the fortune Igor gave him. Then a voice rang loud and clear in Wesley's head:

 _ **Thou art I.**_

 _ **I am thou.**_

 _ **These bonds bring thee closer to thy fate.**_

 _ **Thou will gain power when drawing forth the strength of the Emperor Arcana.**_

When the voice had finished its monologue, Wesley's vision was restored and the Emperor card faded away.

'' _These bonds'… wait, did I just form one of those Social Links Igor was talking about?'_

Ty must have not seen any of this, as he was looking as Wesley strangely.

"Are you okay?" He asked skeptically.

"Um… yeah, I'm fine. I just had a wave of nausea hit me." Wesley lied.

"Ah. I see. You should really be getting some rest soon." Ty said. "Where the hell is Morgan?" He added with annoyance.

Almost as if waiting for that que, A car horn emanated from outside.

"Oh, there she is. Well, it's best for you to get going."

"I agree. Good night."

Just as Wesley was about to walk out of the door, he was stopped by Ty saying:

"Wait, Wesley?"

"Yeah?" The young man in question replied, looking towards the one who called him.

Shortly after stopping him, Ty smiled at Wesley and said:

"Thank you. Sincerely."

Wesley smiled back.

"Of course."

With that, Wesley stepped out into the cool, dark night.

* * *

 **Good morrow, people of Fanfiction! Sorry if this chapter was a bit rough arounf the edges, I just wanted to give something to you guys without a overly long wait. Regardless, leave your reviews and tell me what you think/what I can improve!**


	5. A Drive with the Queen

"Hey-oh." Morgan said with a small salute of her index and middle finger. The salute was directed at Wesley as he opened the door to Morgan's car.

"Good evening." Said Wesley as he began to get situated in his seat, fumbling over her shoulder for the seatbelt.

"So, where exactly am I heading?" Morgan inquired when Wesley was finally buckled up and ready to go.

"Just drop me off in front of the apartment complex across the street from the parking garage we were at." Wesley replied.

"Alright, then away we go." Morgan said while putting the car out of park and driving out of her spot.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Morgan broke it with:

"So, did Ty or Antony tell you anything substantial?"

"Only that those monsters are called Shadows, It's your job to fight them, and that you guys want me to join your 'club'."

"Yep, that's pretty much the gist of things." Morgan said, chuckling slightly.

"Antony also said that he'd go over more of the specific details with me tomorrow afternoon."

"That's good. You probably hate being kept in the dark as much as I do."

"Eh, if a person had their reasons I don't mind it too much, but in this particular situation: Yeah, I sort of need to know the specifics about what exactly drilled into my head."

Upon hearing the phrase 'drilled into my head', Morgan winced in sympathy.

"… I'm really sorry."

"For what?" Wesley questioned.

"For all of this. We did intend to see if you had what it takes, but not like this. If you didn't see us fighting in the parking garage, you wouldn't have-"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Wesley said whilst raising his hand. "Ty already gave me that rundown and I'll tell you what I told him: It is okay."

"Tch, did Ty happen to go over the part where I couldn't stop a measly Shadow like the ones we faced? Because I'm guessing he didn't." Morgan said with disdain.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't beat yourself up over that. I'm guessing that using your Persona takes up a lot of energy and since you were, you know, healing me from not feeling excruciating pain, I think that counts as a plus in my book."

Morgan sighed deeply. "I guess you have a point. Sorry for dissing myself like that, it's just…"

"Just what?"

"Well, I can never really seem to match up to Ty in terms of power. Hell, even you seem to have more strength than me."

"Oh, come on, you barely saw me fight. How can you know for certain that I'm stronger that you?"

At this statement, Morgan gave Wesley a sideways glance filled with incredulousness.

"You're kidding, right?" She began. "You saw what you did back at the garage. I mean, first there was that Bufula strong enough to kill one of the shadows in one shot. Then there was you using Mudo, I haven't even seen a darkness skill up until that point so that was amazing." Morgan rambled on in excitement.

"Wait, wait, wait, slow down." Wesley started. "Which ones were Bufula and Mudo?"

Morgan stopped her continuously overflowing vocalized train of thought.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know about skills. Well, to put it simply: Bufula was the ice attack you used and Mudo created those dark sigils we saw."

"Oh, I see." Wesley said, coming to a realization. "That actually really helps clear things up."

"Glad I could be of assistance." Said Morgan.

"What about the 'skills' that you used? You know, the wind and the healing ones."

"My wind skill is called Garula and my healing skill is called Diarama."

"I observe. What about Ty, what kind of skills can he use?"

"He uses a fire skill called Agilao and sometimes when he-"

Suddenly, Morgan stopped, as if she was trying to avoid a touchy subject.

"When he… what, exactly?" Wesley inquired, suddenly curious.

"When he… has enough strength, he'll use a skill called Megido."

Wesley could easily see though Morgan's poor attempt to hide something, wanting to pry further for more information. However, much like Ty going silent after bringing up the losing of control of one's Persona, Wesley figured he should just let it be for the time being. He did barely know these people, after all. Besides, he was also genuinely intrigued about what this 'Megido' spell entailed.

"What exactly does Megido do?" Wesley asked.

"It's sort of hard to explain, to be quite honest. In an extremely undescriptive way of describing it, let's just say Ty builds up a bunch of destructive energy and then drops it on the Shadow's head."

"Aha. Sounds dangerous."

"Believe me, you don't know the half of it." Morgan said with a shudder.

"It seems like you've had some bad experiences with that attack." Wesley observed.

"That I have. Don't tell Ty I told you this, but on occasion his Persona can throw a fit without him wanting to, which usually results in a couple Megios flying headlong every which way."

"I see… sounds quite terrifying."

"Oh believe me: it is."

"Well, hopefully my being there could help at least somewhat with that." Wesley tried to reason.

In response to this reasoning, Morgan gave a rueful half laugh and said:

"I appreciate the sentiment, Wesley, I really do. In reality, this is a problem that Ty has been dealing with for several years, so I doubt that you could add much more to the remedies me and Antony have suggested."

"Maybe so, but it wouldn't hurt to at least try and see what I can do. And if I can't do anything or somehow make things worse-"

"Which I doubt you will, but go on." Morgan interjected.

"Then so be it. As a wise man once said: 'Whatever happens, happens'."

At this statement Morgan sniggered slightly.

"You know, from the little time I've known you, there have been a remarkable number of times where you've had to explain to me what was funny to you. This is also one of those times." Wesley stated with a small smile on his face, happy for his humorous company after such a near traumatizing incident.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. It just that-now don't get me wrong" Morgan said while shaking one of hands in mock-freneticism, the other on her steering wheel. "I love that quote as much as you do, but I think it's hard to classify Spike as a wise man."

Both Wesley's eyes and smile became wider upon hearing Morgan saying that, jubilant for her having understood his reference.

"You've seen Cowboy Bebop?" Wesley questioned excitedly.

"Seen? I've binge watched that show about three times by now. It's one of the only anime I can stand." Morgan explained.

"Same here!"

Upon the revelation that the two had the same favorite show, Wesley and Morgan spent the remainder of the car ride talking about their favorite episodes and why exactly they were so amazing.

Several minutes passed, but the two had finally arrived at the front of Wesley's apartment complex.

"Well," Wesley began. "Thank you so much for the ride home. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to collapse into my bed."

"Wait." Said Morgan, one of her hands placing itself on Wesley's shoulder.

"Something the matter?" Wesley questioned, reseating himself.

"I'm sorry to keep you longer than anticipated, it's just… from what it sounded like when we were talking you already agreed with Ty that you were going to join us. Is that true?"

"Yes that is true."

"Okay. Because of that, I want to ask you a question."

"Shoot."

"… Are you sure? I mean, there are some serious risks to joining us. The nights are long and exhausting, you get questioned often by the authorities, and worse you could get injured or, you know, DIE by a Shadow."

"I appreciate the concern, Morgan, I really do. However, I've already made up my mind on this. I'm going to join."

"How can you be so certain about this? I mean, when I first learned about all of this, it took me around a week to decide whether or not I should join. Yet here you are, just having barely learned about Personas and Shadows, and suddenly you want to charge into this guns a-blazing. Why is that?"

"Well, there are several reasons. For one, having just learned about this supernatural ability that I now possess, I want to learn more about it. I don't want to go around my whole life knowing I have this god given ability and not do anything with it/not know more about it. Secondly, now that I know that there are monsters roaming around the city, I want to at least do my part to help protect it. Moreover, I like you and Ty, do you think I'm just going to let you two go about this without me helping? Lastly…"

Wesley remembered what Igor had said about the Contract and taking responsibility for you actions.

"… I promised somebody that I would take responsibility for my actions. My actions have caused me to get involved in all of this, so god damn it I'm going to see it through to the bitter end."

Morgan looked at Wesley blank-faced for several moments before giving a conceding smile.

"You've certainly thought this out, haven't you?"

"Indeed I have." Said Wesley with resolve.

"Well, it was worth a shot trying to convince you otherwise. It'll be nice having you around."

"I'm guessing it will, lightening your workload and all."

"Well, for more reasons than that. You see, Ty and I get into arguments pretty often, so it'll be nice to have someone else to talk to/diffuse the tension."

"I see. Well, I'm here whenever you need me."

Morgan placed her hand back upon Wesley's shoulder.

"I'll remember that. Welcome aboard, Wes."

Then, it happened again.

Wesley began to feel light headed as a Tarot card faded into existence in front of him. This one had a red orange, and pink background with some type of floral substance spreading across the card. Center stage stood what a figure of some sort with a very round bottom half and a spindly upper half. It must have been a representation of some form of royalty, because hovering above it was a golden crown. A voice then echoed in Wesley's head:

 ** _Thou art I._**

 ** _I am thou._**

 ** _These bonds bring thee closer to thy fate._**

 ** _Thou will gain power when drawing forth the strength of the Empress Arcana._**

' _That must be it,'_ Wesley thought. _'These must be those Social Links Igor was talking about.'_

"Is something wrong?" Morgan asked with worry.

Wesley now realized he had been gripping his head. He reasoned that she must have not seen what had just happened, much like Ty.

"Oh, I'm okay. I'm just feeling really nauseas. I think I might stay home tomorrow."

"Oh, if that's the case, give me your number."

Wesley flinched slightly. He wasn't complaining, but he never had a girl ask for his phone number before. Let alone one that was as admittedly beautiful as Morgan.

"W-what for?" Wesley stammered out.

"So I can call you when Antony wants to meet with you if you decide to stay home." Morgan reasoned.

"Oh. Right."

With them having exchanged numbers, Wesley stepped out of the car and was about to start walking towards complex's stairwell, when Morgan stopped him once again by rolling down her window and calling out:

"Hey, just so you know, if you ever want to hang out or something, just ring me up. I'd be glad to spend some time." Morgan said with a friendly smile.

Wesley really hoped the streetlight under which he stood didn't show his blush.

"U-um yeah. You too." Was all that Wesley could manage.

With a final good-bye in the form of a hand wave, Morgan rolled up her window and drove away into the night.

When Wesley walked into the complex and started walking towards the stairwell, his thought process went something like:

' _Alright, something drilling into your head aside, today was a pretty good day. You made a few friends, got a girl's number, and figured out that you essentially have a super power.'_

Wesley reached his floor and his door, fumbling in his pocket for his key until he finally retrieved it. Doing so, he inserted it into the keyhole and turned. Finally, he had reached the apartment. Katherine still appeared not to be home, as the door to her room was wide open.

' _I still have so many questions. What kind of group are Ty and Morgan in exactly? How did the Shadows come to be? Is there anything special related to me that I should be worried about? And what Igor said in my fortune still troubles me. 'The end of one thing yet the beginning of another', eh? Okay, so just what is going to begin and end for me?'_

These questions would have to be answered at a later time, however, as Wesley took off his shoes and jacket. As he walking into his room, his thoughts melded into one big lump of nothingness as Wesley dropped himself into his bed and closed his eyes. Soon, a gentle lull look over the young man as he felt himself drift away into the world of slumber…

* * *

 **Good morrow, people of Fanfiction! Sorry that not much was happening in this chapter, it was more of a transitional piece than anything. Regardless, leave your reviews and tell me what you think/what I can improve.**


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